...I think I have it.
My father found it at sea while underwater fishing in the 1950s, along with amphorae, plates and various pottery.
It was an entire load of a Roman ship wrecked not far from the coast of Tuscany. Everything was perfectly preserved because it had sunk into a muddy bottom and remained there for two thousand years.
The only thing to do in these cases is to call the finance office (or in any case the relevant state body) and notify them of the discovery.
WITHOUT TOUCHING ANYTHING.
My father, however, didn't do it and took home a good load of ancient artefacts.
Upon his death we quickly got rid of everything, but I wanted to keep this two-millennia-old copper tamper, also to demonstrate that the ancient Romans already smoked pipes.
My father found it at sea while underwater fishing in the 1950s, along with amphorae, plates and various pottery.
It was an entire load of a Roman ship wrecked not far from the coast of Tuscany. Everything was perfectly preserved because it had sunk into a muddy bottom and remained there for two thousand years.
The only thing to do in these cases is to call the finance office (or in any case the relevant state body) and notify them of the discovery.
WITHOUT TOUCHING ANYTHING.
My father, however, didn't do it and took home a good load of ancient artefacts.
Upon his death we quickly got rid of everything, but I wanted to keep this two-millennia-old copper tamper, also to demonstrate that the ancient Romans already smoked pipes.